I have two questions which, motivated
by an article by Georgina Henry in last Thursday's Guardian, I
formulated to put to the participants at this year's Meeting of
world leaders in Davos.

I don't think there is any chance of
me getting a response from Davos, so I'm sending them to you in
the hope that you will ponder them and give me and your other
listeners the benefit of your responses. They are, I believe,
important questions, which go to the heart of the
"Sustainability Problem" in general and of global warming in
particular.

1) What is the personal ecological
footprint (e.g. annual carbon emissions) of every Davos
participant.

2) If, as I suspect, their ecological
footprints are many (perhaps 100 or more) times the size of a
sustainable footprint, what do the participants have to say
about it?

The purpose of my questions is to
highlight the fact that world's economic and political leaders,
whom we look to for solutions to the world's problems, are not
in a position even to recognise them, because they themselves
are a central part of the problem.

What applies in exemplarily fashion
to the rich and powerful also applies to the rest of us: because
we are completely immersed in, familiar with and dependent on
the status quo, it is extremely difficult for us to recognise
the extent to which we ourselves (not just our economy
and lifestyles, but also many of the values, attitudes and
aspirations which underlie them) ARE the problem.

Instead of turning away from this
dilemma, which is what we generally do, I hope that you will at
least attempt to face up to it.

I don't expect you to answer either
of my questions, but if you can convey to your listeners how
important and central they are, this will lead them towards
recognizing the "root cause" of the "Sustainability Problem" and
increase our chances of finding a solution.